Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has been criticised for trying to mislead the public on the use of the anti-terrorism law against two government critics by claiming that they were not charged under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

Apandi had made the assertion in response to several elder statesmen, led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who expressed concern about the use of Sosma against 1MDB critics Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang.

Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar, who directed his criticism at Apandi, said that while Khairuddin and Chang were indeed not charged under Sosma - which is impossible as it is a procedural law - Sosma was still applied on them as it is read together with their charge under Section 124L of the Penal Code.

Section 124L of the Penal Code concerns attempt to sabotage the country and is considered a security offence.

"True that they were not charged under Sosma but the offence they were charged with comes under the Sosma (procedure).

"Therefore, I ask that the attorney-general apologises to Malaysians for the confusion and his foolish attempt to confuse Malaysians on the issue," Mahfuz ( photo ) added.

The Criminal Procedure Code normally defines how arrest, detention and investigation for offences under the Penal Code are to be conducted under usual circumstances.

However, for offences under the Penal Code that are considered to be a "security offence", the procedure is instead defined by Sosma, which allows for detention of up to 28 days upon arrest and also denies bail after the person arrested is charged.

"I ask that the attorney-general rectifies his statement and admits that Khairuddin and Chang were charged under the Penal Code using the Sosma (procedure) and admits that the government had abused Sosma to protect Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak," Mahfuz said.

Accompanied by his lawyer Chang, Khairuddin lodged police reports in several countries concerning bank accounts linked to Najib and 1MDB.

The two were subsequently arrested and charged under Section 124L of the Penal Code for lodging police reports overseas on the grounds of sabotaging the country's financial system.